A TRAVEL plan will encourage staff and guests at a new Abingdon hotel to use “sustainable transport” if possible.

The Hilton Garden Inn is replacing the former Oxford Abingdon Hotel in Marcham Road.

American hotel chain Hilton has signed a franchise agreement with Abingdon Lodge Hotel Ltd, a subsidiary of Surrey-based Coldunell Ltd, to open the new hotel.

A complete redevelopment is taking place to increase the number of guest rooms from 67 to 151, with a new four-storey extension.

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Construction work is well under way at the new hotel, which could open before the end of the year.

Now Vale of White Horse District Council’s planning team are considering the hotel’s travel plan.

Previously the car park featured 80 spaces and this is being increased to 102.

The travel plan said: “The main aim is to put in place management tools to enable the employees based at the hotel to make more informed decisions about their travel, while at the same time minimise the adverse impacts of their travel on the environment.

“While the focus of the travel plan will be on employee travel measures will be implemented to encourage guests at the hotel to make informed and sustainable travel choices.”

The new hotel, a short distance from the town’s Premier Inn and close to the A34, could open before the end of the year.

Its arrival is a boost for the town’s tourist trade following the closure of the Upper Reaches hotel in Thames Street in 2015.

The Upper Reaches remains closed.